Flathead are one of Australia’s most popular sport and table fish and it’s no secret that they love to eat artificial lures. In the last couple of years, anglers around the country have been challenging the preconceived notion that bottom-feeding flathead can only be targeted by bouncing lures across the bottom of estuaries, bays and beaches.

Targeting flathead on surface lures is a different approach for sure, but the results can be phenomenal and the way that flathead hit a surface lure has to be seen to be believed!

Get the Skinny!

Given the low slung profile of the flathead, it’s no surprise that they can be found in some ridiculously skinny water. This lends itself perfectly to throwing surface lures for them. Depending on where you are chasing these fish, sometimes surface lures are the only style of lure you could throw effectively in that kind of country. Ideal depth for targeting flathead on surface is water anywhere from 20cm to 1.5m deep. Depending on which tide you are fishing, you can pinpoint likely ambush spots to maximise your opportunities.

On an incoming tide, flathead will push up into incredibly shallow water following baitfish, prawns and crabs and use the shallow water to pin their prey as they look for shelter in the mangroves, rocks and sunken timber on the high ride mark. Lures (especially small prawn imitations) cast tight to the bank and worked out quickly can be irresistible for large flathead on the hunt in the shallows.

On the outgoing tide, look for shallow gutters on the edge of the flats where flathead will wait for an easy meal to swim overhead. Long casts fired up onto the flats and then worked back across the edge and over deeper water will often draw a strike from an angry flathead.

The Right Rod & Reel

The toughest part about choosing the right rod and reel for fishing surface lures for flathead is the sheer variation in the size and weight of the lures that you might be throwing to catch these fish.

Flathead are an aggressive, bucket-mouthed predator and as such, they will eat everything from your smallest bream type surface offering, right through to lures that you would normally save for your barramundi trips up north. With this in mind, it makes sense to have a couple of options in your arsenal.

For your smaller surface offerings, a fast action 7’-7’4” 3-5Kg rod with a 2500 sized reel is perfect! Spool this with 8-14lb braid and a length of 14lb leader material and you are in business! When throwing larger offerings for flathead, you will need to up your game. A 7’-7-4” 3-7Kg fast taper rod will be perfect for throwing larger baits around for any ‘3 meterys’ that might be cruising the flats. Beef up your braid to 15lb, your leader to 20lb and you are ready to sling big baits all day!

Best Baits

There are no shortage of lures on the market that you can use to target flathead on the surface. Floating stickbaits are a staple amongst this group of recommended lures. There is something about the zig zag, walk the dog retrieve that really fires up feeding flathead.

Like all fishing, it’s important to match the hatch so pay attention to the bait in the area you are fishing and choose a lure that best represents the prey that the fish are likely to be feeding on. For smaller lures you can’t go past the Bassday Sugapen 70 and Bassday 95, Zipbait Skinny Pop and Skinny Pop Jnr, OSP Bent Minnow 76 and OSP 86 and the ever popular Duo Pencil 65 and Duo Pencil 85. If you are matching larger forage species or potentially trying to tempt larger flathead big OSP Bent Minnows, like the OSP Bent Minnow 106 and OSP Bent Minnow  130 are perfect.

Big jointed swimbaits like Jackall’s Gantia, Zerek Affinity and Westin Hypoteez worked across the surface are monster flathead magnets. The bigger Bassday Sugapen 120F and Duo Pencil Popper 110 are great options for when big prawns are around.

Get Out There!

Now that you know what you need, where to look and what to throw, get out there and chase these awesome fish! One thing that anyone that has ever caught a flathead on surface will tell you is that when they hit a surface lure, they do NOT muck around!

Big surface strikes and airborne fish aren’t visions that are synonymous with flathead fishing, but that’s exactly what you can expect when you hook one of these fish on surface.

Get out there and get amongst it, you won’t look at flathead the same way again!